25 Apr Raspberry Beret Wins King of Ohio Competition

Streetside Brewery’s Raspberry Beret, a berliner weisse with raspberries, was named both Best Sour and Best of Show at the King of Ohio Competition, held during the 2016 Ohio Craft Brew Festival in Columbus on Saturday, September 24, 2016, a day after the brewery opened for the first time to the public.

The competition, which is organized by a collection of four beer blogs across the state, featured more than 60 session beers — those with five percent alcohol by volume or less — in a blind tasting. Ohio brewers were invited to participate and could enter only one beer. The beers were separated into four categories: sours, session IPAs, lagers and ales, with the best of each earning a spot in the “Best of Show” judging.

Winning the competition a day after we open is incredible

Raspberry Beret won Best Sour, which qualified it for the “King of Ohio” final round, where it beat out the three other finalists for the overall title. It was created out of managing brewer Garrett Hickey’s desire to craft a unique beer — and lead brewer Luke Shropshire’s goal for it to be one his girlfriend would like.

“Winning the competition a day after we open is incredible. It’s made the past two years and the long hours Luke and I have put into brewing, learning and schooling completely worth it,” stated Hickey.

The brewery received a special King of Ohio championship belt to put on display.

Other category winners included Commonhouse Ales Summer Sesh for Best Session IPA, Wolf’s Ridge Brewing Clear Sky Daybreak as Best Ale and Willoughby Brewing Co. Kaffee Kolsch for Best Lager. Beers by fellow Cincinnati breweries Fifty West, MadTree and Blank Slate also placed in the top-three across the sour, session IPA and ale categories.

Raspberry Beret is now on tap at Streetside. The brewery will be open limited hours until its October 7 Grand Opening. Check the Facebook page daily for hours of operation between now and October 7.